How do I export custom assets created with Camtasia 9 to work with versions 7 and 8?

We are a global company working with employees using various versions of Camtasia. We have a custom corporate branded asset library. When I upgraded to 9 and updated the library, it is no longer accessible in previous versions - and, thus, unusable by other employees. From what I am reading, I now have to create and maintain our corporate assets in each version that employees have. Why are assets not backwards compatible? This is annoying and stupid - and, no, we are not upgrading everyone around the globe.

I will look into this for you and return with a more definitive answer, but I believe that it is due to licensing. Camtasia Studio 8 users are not licensed to use Camtasia 9 assets; the issue is not backwards compatibility, but rather ﻿forward﻿ compatibility. Camtasia 9 can use libzip files from Camtasia Studio 8, but Camtasia Studio 8 cannot use the files from Camtasia 9.

As mentioned, I will reach out internally for a more concrete answer and will repost with the information.

as I recall, the Library's assetproj format changed from 7 to 8, and maybe even some more from 8 to 9

the not-backwards-compatible issue is similar to project files not being backwards compatible

also, CS9 has asset types [new style callouts, behaviors, etc] that never existed in earlier versions, so they could never be backwards compatible

but depending on what type of assets you have in your CS9 Library, perhaps try this potential workaround ...

put each asset on timeline in its own separate project; set the video background color to something that you don't normally use, but choose one that you could subsequently remove from a produced video without affecting your normal project video

[note: I do not remember if remove a color was available in CS7?, so this may only apply to CS8]

produce the asset as its own video [to AVI or MP4]

distribute the little videos to be used in the older projects; use remove a color to make the asset videos transparent

I just tested this theory; it can work; a lot depends on what the asset is; you'll probably want to remove transitions before producing the asset, and reapply when used; also, new text will need to be overlay ed when the asset is used, etc

a static asset can be saved as a frame; but dynamic assets will need producing

it is a crude workaround, but you might be able to salvage some assets for sharing?